Gardevoir/ORAS
Ralts can only be found on Route 102, and has an encounter rate of 4%. Many a nuzlockers have been left feeling trolled by the secondary rival Wally's catching tutorial, and for a good reason: Ralts is simultaneously one of the rarest and most useful Pokémon obtainable in a nuzlocke of the Hoenn region, having both excellent Special Attack and Special Defense, at the cost of lower physical bulk (that is still better than the majority of Psychic-types), and lower than expected, but still acceptable Speed. The return to Hoenn has given it even more toys to play with, including Mega Evolution, a split evolution that focuses on Attack rather than Special Attack, access to more coverage due to the physical/special split, and a new Psychic/Fairy dual typing that gives it many advantages in key matchups, and an even wider pool of moves to choose from. Important Matchups * Gym #1 - Roxanne (Rustboro City, Rock-type): This is not a fight you should risk your Ralts in, as the Pokémon here have strong physical attacks, and your starter, no matter which one you chose, should generally be able to handle the fight better than anything else you could have. * Gym #2 - Brawly (Dewford Town, Fighting-type): Machop should go down easily to a few Confusions, although Seismic Toss may hurt. Makuhita can be taken care of as well, if you still have plenty of health. If you plan to fight Makuhita, don't equip an item; Knock Off will hurt A LOT with a boost, although Ralts' Fairy-type fortunately nullifies its Dark weakness. * Rival (Route 110): If you still have a Ralts, you should really just have it handle Shroomish or Wailmer, as the starters and Slugma will be hitting rather hard. You should really have a Kirlia at this point, though, in which case you can use Magical Leaf to easily deal with Marshtomp and Wailmer, and Confusion should be strong enough for you to take out Combusken, although Flame Charge is still very hurtful. * Wally (Mauville City): Your Ralts has evolved and his hasn't, so you naturally have the advantage. Just use one or two Magical Leaf or Disarming Voice and it'll go down. * Gym #3 - Wattson (Mauville City, Electric-type): Magnemite and Magneton both resist any attacks you could have at this point, and Magneton has STAB super effective Magnet Bomb. Don't do that. On the upside, Voltorb won't give you as much trouble. * Tabitha/Shelly (Meteor Falls, tag battle with rival): Take out the Poison-type first, or else Koffing may Self Destruct, which is very likely to kill Kirlia; Grimer "only" has Sludge but it's still super effective. Mightyena can be handled with Disarming Voice or Draining Kiss, but Numel has Magnitude, which has the potential to roll up to base power 150, before STAB. Carvanha will go down to a single Magical Leaf or Disarming Voice. * Tabitha/Shelly (Mt. Chimney): They both have all the same Pokémon as you fought against in the double battle, minus Mightyena and level 24 each rather than level 23, so the same comments apply, though this battle may be safer in the sense that you only have to face one Pokémon at a time. * Maxie/Archie (Mt. Chimney): Jokes about Voice casting aside, the only Pokémon here you should even think about fighting is Mightyena, and that can still confuse you with Swagger and lower your Special Attack with Snarl. Camerupt is a fully evolved beast, and Golbat and Sharpedo are both too fast. Don't lose your Kirlia now! Only a few more levels to go. * Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge Town, Fire-type): If you want to use Kirlia in this fight, grind up to level 30 and get yourself a Gardevoir. STAB Psychic will make this fight a breeze compared to the brawl otherwise for those who didn't choose Mudkip. Torkoal will go down down without too much of a fuss, and base 115 Special Defense means that you can handle an Overheat if so needed, even in the event that it is backed up by Sunny Day. * Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg, Normal-type): If you have Trace, don't come in until he brings out Vigoroth, as tracing Truant will remove the one advantage you have over his Pokémon, and getting Vital Spirit will prevent Yawn from putting you to sleep. This is a scary fight no matter what, however, as Slaking's high attack + STAB Retaliate + potential doubled power is not fun. Said Vigoroth can be outsped and one- or two-shotted with Psychic, potentially stopping it from firing off Retaliate. * Courtney/Matt (Southern Island, tag battle with Steven): This fight plays out the same in both versions: target the Poison-type first, then deal with the other target. Now that you have Gardevoir, the Grimer will be much less likely to have a chance to use the Sludge Bomb it has. * Tabitha/Shelly (Weather Institute): All Tabitha has is a Camerupt, but if it survives (it's bulkier than its stats let on), it can hit you with Take Down. You should have something with Surf by now, so unless you want the experience, let your surfer abuse its double weakness to water. Shelly's Sharpedo has no STAB moves - really? - so a single Draining Kiss or Moonblast (need a Heart Scale) will do it in. * Rival (Route 119): You can just spam Psychic here, as nothing has evolved since Route 110. * Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): Remember than annoying Dragon Dance Altaria from the originals? She ditched that move and Aerial Ace for Roost and Cotton Guard. Just use Draining Kiss/Moonblast on Altaria, then use Charge Beam for everything else. * Rival (Lilycove City): Another fight where memory of the older games fails you? Unlike the originals, your rival now has his/her team fully evolved, near level 40, and added a Swellow to the mix. This fight still shouldn't give you any trouble, though you may want to leave Swellow to someone else to play it safe. * Courtney/Matt (Lilycove Hideout): If you can kill Camerupt in one hit, go for it. If not, you can still fight it, but be careful for Take Down and Rock Slide. Matt's Sharpedo has Poison Fang, so it could be tricky... if it goes first. If you have a decent Speed stat, an are at least the same level, you can maybe outspeed, and are one again guaranteed the OHKO with Draining Kiss, Dazzling Gleam or Moonblast. * Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): If you remembered to pick up the TM for Shadow Ball when you were at Mt. Pyre, their Pokémon will last a maximum of two turns. And that's for the one you target second. * Maxie/Archie (Seafloor Cavern): Mightyena will go down to Fairy STAB of choice, and Weezing or Muk will be one-shot by Psychic, but be more careful with Muk. Crobat is too fast and powerful, having both Poison Fang and Acrobatics. Camerupt and Sharpedo can now Mega Evolve, so be prepared to take a lot of damage from them if you do fight them, which is not recommended: they both have strong physical moves. * Primal Groudon (Cave of Origin, Omega Ruby only): There are only two things that should fight this thing: Cloud Nine Golduck and Swampert. Last I checked, Gardevoir was neither. * Primal Kyogre (Cave of Origins, Alpha Sapphire only): If Gardevoir is your only option, then either spam Psyshock, or use Calm Mind a few times to reduce damage taken from Origin Pulse and also boost damage output, then use Psyshock, healing or Draining Kissing as needed. A Water-type with a large amount of special bulk would be better, but Gardevoir can do the job if it needs to. * Gym #8 - Wallace (Sootopolis City, Water-type): The best way to deal with this gym is to head back to Mauville to do the New Mauville sidequest to get the TM for Thunderbolt, and probably stop by Verdanturf for the Gardevoirite while you're at it. Particularly if you find a chance to set up Calm Mind (read: Luvdisc), you can get an easy sweep even without Mega Evolving. * Wally (Victory Road): As many levels in bossness as this guy took, the only thing that really poses a threat to Gardevoir is Magneton, thanks to carrying STAB Flash Cannon. It has Sturdy too, so you shouldn't fight it anyway. You can still chime back in for Mega Gallade, though, as you should be higher levelled and therefore outspeed it. * Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): Spam Fairy STAB. Win. I think you can see by now just how kind ORAS was to Ralts. * Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): Not a very good idea to use Gardevoir here. You have access to SHadow Ball, but so do they, plus STAB, and both Dusclops and Dusknoir are likely to survive a hit from you, unless you put up Reflect and manage to dodge critical hits. The two Banette are fair game, however, being both slow and frail. * Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): Take care of everything FAST, because they'll set up Hail as soon as they have the chance, and the Froslass have Snow Cloak to boost evasion when it's hailing. If you're level 54 or under, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE BATTLE WALREIN. It will use Sheer Cold, and it WILL hit. Probably. * Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): Once again, just spam Fairy STAB of choice. Easy peasy for the most part, but don't underestimate Salamence, it outspeeds and has high Attack; if Gardevoir piled up damage during the previous fights, heal it or switch it out before you keep nuking him with your moves. Setting up Reflect can help greatly in this battle. * Champion Steven (Ever Grande City, Steel-type): Skarmory can be hit with Thunderbolt, but it has Sturdy, so it's guaranteed at least one move unless you paralyze it. It does hase Steel wing, but taking a Steel Wing may be preferable to having it set up Spikes, and it forces Steven to use one of his Full Restores that would otherwise probably be spent on more dangerous Pokémon. Stay far away from Aggron, as it also has Sturdy, and Iron Tail is coming off of a very frightening Attack. Claydol can be used as set up fodder if you have Shadow Ball (and you SHOULD have it for this fight), although Light Screen will be annoying until it wears off. Cradily should not be attempted unless you have several Calm Minds under your belt, as it has a lot of bulk, and is packing Sludge Bomb. Same story for Armaldo, which has Metal Claw. Steven's ace, Mega Metagross, is the reason why you should be packing Shadow Ball rather than Focus Blast for this fight, since Steel no longer resists Ghost, letting Shadow Ball hit super effectively. Don't attempt it unless you already have several Calm Minds, it has been weakened, you are Mega Evolved, and/or it has not. You can outspeed it on the first turn, and one-shot with enough Special Attack boosts, but all bets are off after that and you will still, most likely, need to survive a Bullet Punch: it's never fun. Another option on the safe side is Reflect, but it doesn't shield Gardevoir from critical hits, and you will need to keep it standing throughout the fight if you want to have a chance against Metagross. * Post-Game: Coming someday, to a NuzlockeDex near you! Moves Ralts starts off with just Growl, but luckily learns Confusion at level 4. It then gets Double Team at level 6 and Teleport at level 9; Teleport is nice in lieu of Fly, so long as you have a spare slot to keep it. The first Fairy STAB available is Disarming Voice, at level 11, which complements Confusion nicely. Lucky Chant at level 14 may be surprisingly useful, removing one of the biggest damage variables in a nuzlocke; again, though, it will find a tough competition for the move slot. Ralts also gets Magical Leaf at level 17, which offers good coverage and has a nice base power. Its last move before evolution is Heal Pulse, learned at level 19, but don't take it. As Kirlia, you will get Draining Kiss as an upgrade to Disarming Voice at level 23, and the amazing Calm Mind as early as level 26, which will make your future Gardevoir wreck a lot of things. Psychic comes at level 30, together with evolution, and makes Gardevoir an absolute powerhouse for a long time. As Gardevoir, it will gain instant access to Moonblast through the Move Reminder, at the moderate cost of one Heart Scale; if you don't have one, you can always wait for the Dazzling Gleam TM instead. Gardevoir learns Imprison at level 35 too, but it isn't really any good, nor is Future Sight at level 40, or Captivate at level 44, for that matter. Hypnosis, at level 49, is a good support move, but has awful accuracy and Gardevoir probably won't need it anyway. If you are hell bent on getting Hypnosis, consider Dream Eater as well, available at level 53. Stored Power, at level 58, goes very well with Calm Mind; it only takes two Calm Mind turns for it to outdamage Psychic. Lastly, at level 62, if you ever get that far, it will learn Moonblast, but you really should have had ways of grinding Heart Scales at this point. The TM options are very good and very vast. Calm Mind and Psychic are both TM moves as well, and while they are available much later than Gardevoir normally learns them, this does mean that you can reteach the moves via TM and spend way less PP restorers on them. If you would rather hit the enemy Defense than Special Defense, you can always opt for Psyshock over Psychic. Thunderbolt, already mentioned many times, is a must have for its movepool, and Shadow Ball is next in line for usefulness. If you want Grass coverage, Energy Ball is the way to go. Charge Beam can work as a substitute for both Calm Mind and Thunderbolt, which uses up one less move slot, but the two moves mentioned before will generally yield better results. Dazzling Gleam is a good option for STAB, if you are somehow unable to get a Heart Scale before long. Good support moves this line has available are also Reflect and Light Screen, particularly the former which helps Gardevoir's low Defense go up, and even Will-O-Wisp, which is obviously less accurate than Reflect and unusable on Fire-types, but with two perks: it deals damage every turn if it hits, and the Attack nerf induced by the burn will not be ignored by critical hits. For particularly slow Gardevoir, such as those with a Speed-lowering nature, Thunder Wave and Trick Room are also available. Via DexNav, the only really useful move the line gets is Confuse Ray, but it will not be on Gardevoir's moveset forever either way. Recommended moveset: Calm Mind, Moonblast, Psyshock / Psychic, Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball / Focus Blast Other Ralts' stats Kirlia's stats Gardevoir's stats Mega Gardevoir's stats * What Nature do I want? Anything not lowering Special Attack or boosting Attack is amazing. Even if you do end up with a bad nature, it is still worthy of a spot on the team: a good nature is more like the icing on the cake. Of course, if your Ralts is male and more Attack-oriented, consider evolving it into Gallade instead. * Which ability do I want? Either standard ability is fine: Synchronize can screw over Pokémon like Shroomish, and Trace can let you pick up a useful ability from the opponent. Don't get Telepathy, it's not worth it. * When should I be evolved? Yous should have a Kirlia for the rival battle on Route 110, and a Gardevoir for Flannery. * How good is the Ralts line in a Nuzlocke? ''' IT. IS. AMAZING. If you can find one, you'd be almost crazy to NOT place it on the team. Hits hard, tanks special attacks well, and has a surprisingly wide movepool. The only reason it is not ranked higher is due to its incredible rarity. * '''Weaknesses: Poison, Ghost, Steel * Resistances: Psychic, Fighting (x0.25) * Immunities: Dragon * Neutralities: Normal, Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Ice, Ground, Flying, Bug, Rock, Dark Category:Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire